Weekend Reading on Women's Representation December 8, 2017

By Cynthia Richie Terrell
on December 08, 2017

This week's missive will be very short as I am racing to get to a dear friend's book signing in Philadelphia that starts in a couple hours! Yikes!

I attended two events this week that were chock full of interesting speakers and attendees!

Politico's #WomenRule event was on Tuesday - look for a coverage of that event here - though you may have seen coverage of some of the programming in the news - Marco Rubio, Kristen Gillibrand, and Kelly Ann Conway - among many others - made for a lively conversation!

The Feminist Majority celebrated their 30th anniversary at the Press Club with a series of panels and an awards ceremony with several members of Congress and most of the newly elected members of the VA House of Delegates - some are gathered in the photo above!

There were several terrific wins this week for women of color in mayoral elections - you can read a blog about the candidates on the Higher Heights website and sign up for their political leadership webinar series on HH website:

Party Politics 101: How to Get Involved

Tuesday, December 12, 2017 7:30 p.m. ET

While Black women are actively engaged as voters in the political process, there are few Black women leaders at the national, state, and local level in the political parties.

Don't know how the political parties (eg. Democratic, Republican, Working Families etc) work?

Want to get more involved in the political process?

Join this webinar and hear from Black women who have been leaders in their political party and learn about the political party structure and ways to engage more with the one of your choice. Listen as they share their best practices and lessons learned about engaging with political parties to support candidates and shaping the parties engagement with your community.

The Barbara Lee Family Foundation is hiring a Program Director - please share the link with anyone whom you think might be interested in applying! And Barbara Lee announced this week that Nicole Carlsburg is the new executive director of the BLFF - congratulations Nicole!

I got my copy of Drude Dahlerup's Has Democracy Failed Women? today in the mail! This seems like the perfect holiday gift for everyone on your list! I am anxious to read it and hope that you will too - in fact it might make a perfect topic for our inaugural session of our new webinar series launching in 2018!

Why are women still under-represented in politics? Can we speak of democracy when women are not fully included in political decision-making? Some argue that we are on the right track to full gender equality in politics, while others talk about women hitting the glass ceiling or being included in institutions with shrinking power, not least as a result of neo-liberalism

It was a sad week for those of us at FairVote who have worked with John B Anderson for the last 25 years. My husband Rob Richie wrote this touching tribute to one of the finest, feminist, men I have known:

John spoke on our behalf in states across the country and was always willing to hop on public transportation for a key meeting or media appearance in D.C. Given how unassuming he was, it was always a refreshing reminder to be with him when meeting our leading political lights, who invariably showed just how much respect he had earned during his 20 years in Congress and decade in the House Republican leadership. Whether it was conservative Republicans like Henry Hyde, moderate Republicans like Jim Leach, Tom Campbell and John Porter, Democrats like Lee Hamilton and Mo Udall, independent and third party leaders like Lowell Weicker and Ralph Nader, or journalists like Eleanor Clift and Brian Lamb, John was someone people wanted to listen to and appreciate.

Although slowed physically in recent years – and not happy about it, as he would be quick to tell you --John continued to be a devoted father, loving husband of his ever-delightful wife of 64 years Keke, and sage source of advice and insight. When I last saw him in September and realized those days were likely over, it was a hard blow that left me weeping. He truly was a great man and indefatigable optimist about what our democracy can be. I will miss him, and offer a final toast: to John B. Anderson, leader, reformer, visionary, husband, father and friend. Thank you for a life well-lived.